Given how many Indian diamond firms have invested in synthetics in the past five years, it’s unsurprising that the company that claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of natural polished should also get involved.
Indeed, Kira Diam, the brainchild of Kiran Gems founder Vallabhbhai Patel, also maintains it is the world’s largest producer in its field. That field is chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the method it uses to grow gem-quality synthetic diamonds primarily for the US jewelry market.
Unlike some other manufacturers, the large family business has been open about its interest in synthetics. Patel has said he wants to get a man-made diamond into every home. While only a small fraction of people can afford natural diamonds, “with lab-grown diamonds, now the potential is simply 100% of the population,” Patel said in an interview in 2022.
The name of the brand makes the connection between the companies clear: As well as meaning “beam of light,” it shares a name with one of the granddaughters in the family and is one letter off Kiran, noted Kira Diam partner Shanay Parekh in April.
The synthetics market has changed a lot since Kiran first came up with the business idea. Prices have fallen sharply due to higher production. (A price list from the company from three months ago shows 1- to 2-carat, F to G, VS goods in rounds and fancies at around $150 per carat.) Wholesale margins are thinner than before.
Rapaport News spoke with Kira Diam cofounder and director Mehul Vaghani about some of these issues on June 2 during the JCK Las Vegas show. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me a bit about the background of Kira Diam.
Kira is the world’s largest grower of CVD lab-grown diamonds. We are based in Surat, where our manufacturing facilities are. We produce 150,000 polished carats every month. [We have] 5,000 people cutting and polishing these diamonds.
What is the connection to Kiran Gems?
It’s a separate company. One of the founders of Kiran [Vallabhbhai Patel] started Kira as a company.
But obviously with the name, there’s an intention to show the customer that you’re somehow connected.
Yes, [and] Vallabhbhai is the owner of the company.
Are Kiran’s and Kira’s manufacturing on the same site?
No, not the same site. They are both in Surat. We have 2,600 chambers where we grow our diamonds through CVD technology. We have a 25-megawatt solar plant that powers our growing facility and also a cutting facility.
What colors, clarities and sizes do you produce?
We produce from 18-pointers going up to 10-carat plus. We have all the variety of shapes, from rounds, ovals, emerald, radiant, pear, marquise. Colors from D to H; EFG being the primary. Clarities, mainly VS. That’s what’s in demand in the lab-grown market.
Can you tell me about how Kiran Gems came to the decision that it should set up Kira?
[Vallabhbhai Patel] thought…there was an opportunity in lab-grown diamonds, also, and that it can be a sizable market.
How many years ago was that?
We started researching this three years [ago].
How has the Kira business gone?
Really well. We started our operation last October. We have a 1,000-plus customer base already established in the USA. We have an 8,000-square-foot office…on [New York’s] Fifth Avenue. People are looking at us as a trusted supplier for any of their CVD requirements.
Has the reduction in synthetics prices made you reconsider the future of your lab-grown business?
No. We already invested in our facility. It takes 18 to 36 months to make the facility and infrastructure.
Were you expecting you would have to be a volume business when you started?
Yes. We had already planned this two years [ago], that we would be producing more than 100,000 carats of polished every month [and 450,000 carats of rough].
So where do you see the lab-grown market going?
There will be demand. We are confident. There [were fewer purchases] in the last three months in the market, but we had a good response at the JCK show from the first two days.
We understand a lot of diamond retailers that focused on lab-grown last year, because they got good margins, are now shifting back to natural. Have you seen that?
There [is] a mix. There are people who are looking to add more SKUs [stock-keeping units] also in the lab space.
Has the reduction in prices been attractive to them?
Yes. They can try [fresh] products [and] larger center [stones].
But they’re now making less margin than they were because their retail prices have also gone down.
For the retailer, the margin…
Read More: Kiran Gems’ Sister Company Grows Synthetic Diamonds